It’s the fourth quarter, 1:15 left on the clock. Up by four vs. the Clippers, OKC’s Jalen Williams drove to the basket and went up for a layup. Here’s what happened next. That play will likely cost the Thunder dearly, especially given what else happened in the contest.
Williams was knocked down by Derrick Jones Jr., fell awkwardly on one leg, which snapped his fibula and soon dislocated his ankle after he crashed to the court. Williams was stretchered off the court and is likely out for the rest of the season.
Williams was also a huge contributor to the Thunder’s 2024-25 Finals run, averaging 21.6 PPG over the regular season and 21.4 PPG in the playoffs. But last season, he missed 49 games because of offseason wrist surgery and recurring hamstring strains.
Williams can do great things when he finishes a season, and the Thunder will miss him not just on the court, but in the locker room.
Unfortunately for the team, Williams isn’t the only player out, and the irony (make that a tragedy) is that both injuries happened in the very same game. Cason Wallace tore his left shoulder labrum after he collided with Isaiah Jackson on a called moving screen and fell to the ground. He is expected to miss most, if not all, of this season.
For Thunder fans, the outcome is even more depressing because of depth issues. The team traded Lu Dort, their main defensive anchor besides Chet Holmgren. That trade made sense at the time because Wallace finished seventh in Defensive Player of the Year voting last year and earned All-Defensive 2nd team honors. His job was to replace, or at least supplement, Dort’s loss on defense.
Th
e big question now is how OKC will fare from here on out, especially on defense. The Thunder made it far without J-Dub for most of last season, but can they do the same for almost the whole season? Can their defense recover from losing Wallace’s defense, especially when Chet is sitting?
Time will answer those questions.
______________
Cover photo courtesy of Shams Charania on Instagram
